Sunday, January 5, 2014

Mystic Munnar

The words
“Munnar” were on the planning board for quiet some months and we (self and wifey) had not made any progress after the name. Vinayaga
Chaturthy weekend sounded a nice opportunity to do a trip, as KL monsoon had
just receded and TN plains would be a better place to do a day trip.

All set, we
started preparations before a month. Plan
was to have two days driving up and down and two days of stay at Munnar and if
energy levels permit, have the reserve day spent at Chinnnar WLS.

We spent
two weeks researching on the resorts in and around Munnar. Criteria was very clear – away from hustle bustle of town, not
more than two-storey’s, should not be a typical hotel, should offer decent
food. Tripadvisor was the
best bet and we read out reviews of close to 20-30 resorts and some analytics helped us zero in on “Bracknell Forest”.
Couple of reviews from foreign nationals, especially Europeans of the
property gave us good confidence. We called up the desk and no wonder the staff was very professional in
handling the queries and booking was done a week in advance and a mail
confirmation from them sealed the deal.

Next step
was get hold of latest road conditions to Munnar and as usual I referred to the trusted TeamBHP to get the right set of info . Spoke to few people who had done the route a week earlier and based on all inputs, it was decided to reach Munnar via Trichy, Dindigul, Theni, Bodi, Devikulam –
Munnar. Return was planned via the
Udumalpet side to have a feel of the other side of the Western Ghats and also if we
could spot some wildlife when passing through the Chinnar WLS.

One quick
search on the net helped us with a list of spots and Tripadvisor, some blogs
helped prioritizing.

Figgy (Let
me call my Blue Oval Figo this way in this blog) had just completed her 10k
service and was in good condition to take up the ordeal.

Day -1

Day started with Figgy getting cranked at 4 AM. The distance was 550 kms and I had estimated
a running time of 12 hours considering a ghat section of close to 60kms to do
and an hour of buffer time. Reached Villupuram by 6:30AM and had our coffee and
as planned we reached Trichy by 9 AM to have breakfast at our favorite hotel
Ajanta near the Railway Junction.
Navigating Trichy to catch the Dindigul highway was not that
difficult. The four lane highway between Trichy and Dindigul was looking so deserted and I felt pity on the infra firm
managing this highway with so sparse traffic meaning meager toll collections. Found it difficult to drive on a highway
where one could spot a vehicle a km, felt too sleepy. Just halfway through the travel and this sounded
not good. Getting on to the two lane
after Dindigul gave some respite. Two
lane highways are more fun to drive as the opposite traffic and the morons on the road keep you busy always with their driving antiques.

Planned route:

Chennai - Theni - Bodi - Bodi mettu - Devikulam - Munnar (570km)

Empty dumpty NH45B towards Dindigul

NH 183 near Batlagundu

Took the
Dindigul bypass to hit the NH7 and with some guidance from locals we could catch
the road to Batlagundu. The road from
Dindigul to Theni is being widened and thankfully in the final stages, letting us have a smooth ride. We reached Theni by 12:30 PM thought of
postponing the lunch we had planned at Theni.

After
crossing Theni I could spot a TNSTC bus to Munnar from Theni before us and started
following the bus to take the right road to Bodi. Once we reached the Bodi diversion which is a
right turn from the Cumbum highway, to my surprise the bus took the road
towards Cumbum. Bit confused, I decided
to take the planned route to Bodi. Kept
telling my wifey that the bus not taking its original route sounds bit fishy. Went some 2kms further towards Bodi but
something kept telling me that the bus not taking it original course – need to be checked. Spotted a truck fellow and checked
with him on the road conditions on the Bodi highway. To my horror, came the news that Bodi – Munnar highway has been closed and our
bellowed NHAI did not even bother to keep a board at the junction where
vehicles going to Munnar take the diversion.
Had it not been for this nagging doubt, I could have done another 50kms
and found a nice board apologizing for all inconvenience caused and requesting
me politely to get lost. Gosh!

Just outside Uthamapalayam

Lush green Cumbum valley

Hmmm.. I was not very sure of the topography of this area and decided to reach Cumbum and decide
upon things. Reached Cumbum by about 2
PM and some quick search lead us to a very good eatery “Bodi Hotel – Estd 1947”. Food was simple and good. After a hearty meal, checked out with the hotel
proprietor on routes to Munnar. My
initial assumption was that, one had to take the Cumbum-Kumily route which
easily adds 3hrs to my estimated travel time.
His suggestion instead was to take the Cumbum mettu – Nedgumkandam –
Devikulam route to reach Munnar. Names
sounded new, noted them all, thanked him for the excellent the food/ route advice. Figgy got ready to take us through this unknown - to be known route.

Route became:

Chennai - Theni - Cumbum - Cumbum Mettu - Devikulam - Munnar (615km)

Couple of
Kms outside the Cumbum town, we approached the foot hill of W.Ghats and there
comes the announcement of the first hair pins of the 18 which one need to
negotiate to reach Cumbum Mettu.
Interestingly, each hair pin had been given a name of a flower by State
Highways department. 18 of those pins came in quick succession –
very narrow and sharp.

View from Cumbum mettu side of the valley

Vanchi Poo Hair Pin Bend 5/18

This was the
first time I was driving on a proper ghat road and bingo – I was loving negotiating
the pins as if this was my Nth time doing them.
Having passed the test with flying colors – courtesy every reliable
Figgy, now task was to reach Munnar before sunset. The route was just a narrow road hitting
small villages often, finally hit the Devikulam road. Now started
the brilliant carpet of tea plantations – sight which would keep us company for
next 4 days.

Tata Tea plantations you see them everywhere ...

Tea carpet on the hills on either side of the road

Misty - Mystic -Munnar

Reached Munnar town by 6 PM
and called up the desk of Bracknell forest.
The staff asked me to take the branch road from the Kochi highway and drive
for 7 kms sharp. It was getting dark and
the route was kind of plantations + forests and hair pins. 7th km we spotted the resort and checked
in.

It was 6:30
PM and it had been 14 hours and 30 mins I had pressed on the gas pedal for the
day. And now I felt as fresh to
do the journey back ! Call it the magic of Munnar, was it the pleasure of gobbling up those numerous hair pins which gave energy...not sure though.

Bracknell
proved to be very good property tucked amongst the tea and cardamom plantations
facing a steep valley (which I realized on the second day when some mist had
cleared in front of my room). Restaurant had a request that, they will make food on order (20 mins lead time) and serve
it hot only! Way to go. We enjoyed every other meal for the next two
days and staff were very courteous and helping.

Image courtesy : Tripadvisor.in

Spoke to
the manager (Anees) for charting out
the two day plan in Munnar and he was very helping and provided with a detailed
map of Munnar and helped me space my spots for the two days based on the
locations. For next two days Anees was
my man Friday as I would call him to either find a place to eat or a suggestion
of route and never did he felt oh man.

Road leading to the resort

Day one (at Munnar) plan was to cover the spots on the Munnar – Top station road:

-Madupetti
dam

-Live
stock board

-Kundala
Dam

-Top
station view point

Plan for
Day two:

-Eravikulam
National Park

-Tata
Tea museum

Had planned
a lazy itinerary and I am not a hard core tourist.

Day 2:

Having checked in post sunset, we were in for
a pleasant surprise when we sat for tea in the sit out in the morning. Mist covered forest welcomed us, just mesmerizing atmosphere
to start the day. Had our
breakfast and hit the road for the day. One good thing about Munnar is that the chillness is not the kind of biting one you see at Ooty/ Kodai. Realized on the second day that, such weather made tea plantations the life line of this soil.

View from the sit out of the room

First we reached the Madupetty dam, the road crosses over the dam
structure. Thanks to heavy monsoon rains
which had receded just a week ago, all
water bodies across Munnar were brimming with water and Madupetty was no different. We chose the speed boat ride and wifey was too
keen to try this out. With the life jackets
on we had a 15 min ride across the backwaters of the dam. The dam abuts the Govt run live stock board
compound and we could see flock of
cattle grazing on the high grounds. If
one is lucky, even elephants can be spotted grazing. Entry to the live stock board compound has been restricted now and general public is not allowed.

Madupatty tea factory run by KDHP

Madupatty Dam

KL Live Stock Board grazing grounds

Next spot
was the Kundala dam which at the outset looked bit rusty. Built during the Travancore Kingdom rule, it’s Asia’s
first arch dam and on offer are some
heavy mechanicals of yesterday’s left to rust.

Kundala Arch Dam

Tata group run school

Next on the
agenda was the top station. Some quick
history here..

“Top Station was a trans-shipment point for delivery of tea
from Munnar to Bodi. Top Station derived its name from its being the uppermost
located railway station on the Kundala Valley Railway, built in 1902 between
Munnar, Kundalai and this hilltop location. A monorail goods carriage system
was soon installed along this cart route. In 1908 the monorail was replaced by
a 24 inch gauge railway. Middle Station is 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) west from Top
Station on the way from Lower Station Munnar. Some remains of Kundala Valley
Railway can be seen at the Munnar Tea Museum.

Tea chests arriving at Top Station from the Kundalai Valley
were transported by a ropeway from Top Station 5 km down hill to the south to
Kottagudi, Tamil Nadu. The tea was then shipped 15 km by cart to
Bodinayakkanur, then by rail to other places in India and ship to England.
Remains of the ropeway station at Top Station are still visible. Elevation at
top of Bodi ropeway was 1,911 meters (6,270 ft)” - Wiki

All this
gone, we have just the words Top station left. Currently there is a view point owned by a private individual from where magnificent
views of Theni valley can be seen provided weather is on your side. From
the entry point to view point, it takes a good trek of 15 mins and to our disappointment, whole valley was covered with
mist with no signs of any improvement.
We decided to return and head back to the town for lunch. Other thing to mention here is that, top
station is located in TN state and can be approached only from the KL side.

Intha kosu tholla Top Station-layum

Top Station - Entry details

So far so
good, touch wood – no says fate. After finishing the top station visit, we were
driving down the ghats towards Munnar town.
Roads are pretty well laid in this section and you don’t expect anything
wrong and this is what happened “At one of the sharp curves, out of the blue I see
one Etios live before me coming in opposite direction. Just matter of seconds and some timely
efforts a head on collision was avoided.
I hear a huge thud. Just manage
to avoid hitting the rocks and park the car. We both are frozen and I ran down catch the moron.”

Impact: Right fender is damaged, RH head lamps stand
bruised. Saving grace
was that, head on collision was avoided and vehicle though hit was in running condition. Figgy felt bad, 10K kms of dream run and now a broken
cheek and bruised eyes. Consoled my
wifey and Figgy and drove down with rains pouring. Looks like nature heard the cries of the blue
oval.

Day was
down to the dust and we just decided to call it a day.

Day 3:

Ervikulam
National Park – Wildlife – Nilgiri Thar

"Eravikulam National Park is 97 sq. km. in extent, situated
along the crest of the Western Ghats in the High Ranges of Idukki district of
Kerala state, India. The Park holds the
largest viable population of the endangered (IUCN) Nilgiri Tahr (Hemitragus hylocrius).
- NP Park Site."

Did some Googling
of the two spots for the day. As per
Tripadvisor reviews, Ervikulam draws big crowd and waiting period for the
shuttle buses which take you to the peak is a pain. We made it to the NP by 10:30 AM and due to
rains, crowd looked manageable. The infra
at the NP is commendable. Proper car
parking with guards, sheltered queue stands, eatery were a nice to have. Thumbs up again to KL tourism here – have experienced many of their better managed facilities earlier.

ENP shuttle bus which ply inside the NP

The Nilgiri Thar - National Animal of TN State

Private
vehicles are not allowed inside the park, ENP run vans ferry people to the top
of the peak which is a 20 min journey.
From the point where van drops, further walking track of 2 kms is
available and here is where the Nilgiri Thars come down in droves. Weather had played a spoilsport and it
started raining heavily as we entered the NP.
Due to continuous rains, we could not spot any Thar for first one
hour. When we were just about to leave,
came down one lone Thar. Braving the drizzle
hitting my camera lens, took some shots of the mountain climber.

Tea Museum

By the time
we reached Munnar town, rains had ceased and after lunch, we headed for the
Tata Tea museum. This is an old factory of the TATA's which has been converted to a tea museum.

Tea Museum - KDHDP

This is a
must visit for any curious tourist to Munnar.
History of Munnar is very closely linked to Tea plantations here and you
are shown a good 40 min documentary on the development of Munnar tea
plantations. One also comes to know of how the show is run by the society of workers under the umbrella - KDHP (Kannan Devan Hill Plantations). KHDP handles the production part and marketing - retailing of tea is done by the TATA's. During the tour, KDHP official takes the crowd through the manufacturing
process of tea from the plucked leaves stage and also explains the nuances of tea –
white tea, CTC , orthodox tea and what not. It is very interesting to know that tea belongs to the tree family and is pruned to keep it at a height suitable for plucking the leaves. Tea grows well in a climate which is neither too hot or not too cold and requires some amount of shade as well. There is a small setup in the museum which churns out the tea powder from the leaves. The entire process is for the eyes to see - interesting indeed.

Plucked Tea Leaves

Tea leaves undergoing the cutting process

Tea power of various grades sorted in a hopper based on size of granules

Also on display are photographs depicting
the various phases of development the plantations underwent and equipment's used by the Tea industry in various stages.

Kundala Valley Light Railway

Exhibits at the Museum

With minds full, it was time to have
our hands full. We headed to the KDHP
outlet to complete some customary purchase of tea for friends back home. Overall a nice and unique experience.

Day almost
came to a close and we headed back to the resort to prepare for the next day’s
journey back to Chennai.

Day 4:

Time to start for Namma Chennai. We started
by 8 AM for the 12 hour journey to Chennai.
We chose to return via the Udumalpet route so that we can get a feel of
the Chinnar WLS. Elephant spotting can
happen in Chinnar, we were not lucky that day though.
Chinnar portion towards Udumali is very dry and falls under the rain
shadow region.

Great Subbu. I've seen many people go for tours like these and simply share pics in FB / picassa and then forget - no one really gets to "feel" them truly. This is really awesome way of sharing your experience, truly bringing glimpses through your lenses nay eyes....

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Thanks for writing such a beautiful and detailed post on Munnar. This hill station is marked by vast expanses of tea plantations, colonial bungalows, rivulets, waterfalls and cool weather. For tourist and travellers accommodation, check out these Munnar Hotels offering great services.

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